Donald Trump: Mexico Will Pay for Wall Later

President-elect Donald Trump reacted to recent reports that he had asked Congress for funding for the wall on the southern border.

“The dishonest media does not report that any money spent on building the Great Wall (for sake of speed), will be paid back by Mexico later!” he wrote on Twitter.

A CNN report cited House Republican sources revealing that the Trump transition team was planning to fund the wall through the congressional appropriations process.

This is not the first time that Trump has detailed his plan to have Mexico repay the United States for the wall.

“Mexico is paying for the wall, with the full understanding that the country of Mexico will be reimbursing the United States for the full cost of such a wall, OK?” he said during an October 22 speech in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. “We’re going to have the wall. Mexico is going to pay for the wall.”

During the campaign, Trump revealed in a memo to the Washington Post some ideas for getting Mexico to pay. He proposed threatening to block wire money transfers to Mexico from people who were not legally in the United States. Mexico receives approximately $24 billion a year from the U.S. in wire transfers.

Trump suggested that Mexico would be willing to contribute billions to the United States border security to lift the blockade. He also proposed imposing higher tariffs or raising visa fees to help pay for the wall.

Experts have already pointed out that Trump has the authority and some of the appropriations from Congress for fencing or walls on certain portions of the border, thanks to the Secure Fence Act, passed by Congress in 2006.